Martha Ackerman is pushing a car toward the checkout lanes. Samson Jr. and Reggie are both at her sides, trying to convince her to buy this or that for them and add it to the cart.

The town's deputy, in uniform, is holding a wrapped poor boy sandwich and a bottle of Diet Coke. He is walking toward the self-checkouts.

The man in the black suit is wandering around the produce department.

In the bakery section of the story, an old woman with curly white hair, dressed in an offensively bright tangerine-colored dress, is struggling to reach a loaf of sliced bread on the top shelf.

Another old woman, this one with short gray hair, is carrying a green shopping basket and is looking at the frozen pizzas. She has a concerned look on her face. Unlike the woman in the bakery, who is on the heavier side, this woman is very thin. Her veins show clearly on her arms and hands. She is wearing a black long-sleeved shirt and a slim fitting pair of light gray pants.

Martha and her sons check out and leave the store, followed shortly after by the town deputy, who has troubles at the self-checkout. Neither he nor the self-checkout attendant could get the "damn machine" to recognize the bar code on the poor boy sandwich.

The man in the black suit found his way out of the produce department.

The old women, the one in the tangerine-colored dress and the one with short gray hair, leave the store without buying anything.